Star Puma a clear threat to the Wallabies

By Daniel Gilhooly

Nicolas Sanchez has come of age as a Test playmaker and is seen as the key to ending Argentina's 35-year drought on Australian soil.

Coach Mario Ledesma was gushing in his praise of classy five-eighth Sanchez after the Pumas pushed the All Blacks hard in a 46-24 Rugby Championship loss in Nelson on Saturday.

Argentina's Nicolas Sanchez kicks a penalty.Credit:AFP

Sanchez scored one try and set up two more in a performance not far removed from when he steered the South Americans to home victory over the Springboks last month.

Reportedly one of the game's highest-paid players, the 29-year-old from Stade Francais showed exactly why with his vision and execution which left the world champions grasping at times.

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"He's always been a really good rugby player but I think this year, if anything, he's been conducting the team much better," Ledesma said.

"He's been thinking about making the team play better and not about the best situation he can take to break the line."

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The result was a Pumas backline which scythed through with regularity.

It isn't often the All Blacks concede 14 clean breaks and miss 30 tackles, but the footwork and pace of the visitors' back division was a contrast to some of the problems they were experiencing up front.

"I thought many of our backs could have played for the All Blacks tonight," Ledesma said.

He singled out Sanchez, winger Ramiro Moyano and fullback Emiliano Boffelli as players who thrived in a fast-paced Test which featured little kicking and more than 400 passes in total.

More of the same against the Wallabies on the Gold Coast next week could end a winless record in Australia which stretches back 14 Tests, to the first such meeting at Ballymore in 1983.